AVI what price?
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New member Username: Dean45Post Number: 6 Registered: Jun-06 | Anyone know the cost of the AVI lab integrated? |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 184 Registered: Mar-06 | Hi Dean, I paid 1500GBP for mine, on a trip back to the UK last christmas. If I had been smart I could have got the VAT back, but I was too busy having fun with my family to worry much about it. Its a nice amp, I am very happy with mine. cheers Rav |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 188 Registered: Mar-06 | Hi Dean, if you are in the USA, I found this on the AVi web-site. This is the details of the US distributor. USA Overture Imports 618 South Main Street Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Tel: (734) 995-1812 info@overtureimports.com The distributor should be able to put you in touch with your closest AVi dealer, and of course tell you the retail price in USD. Also the AVi web-site itself is not a bad read. Although I cannot say that I agree with them 100%. But still there is some useful info on their web-site: http://www.avihifi.co.uk/index.html cheers Rav |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 189 Registered: Mar-06 | P.S. AVi are not too prone to useless hype and BS... But I am sure all manufacturers are prone to this to a greater or lesser degree. Thankfully in the case of AVi, it is only a mild case. If you want to read REAL hype and BS, then read the musical fidelity web-site...... ciao Rav |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1529 Registered: Sep-04 | Rav, you obviously haven't spent 2 hours on the phone to Ashley discussing the finer points of the optional phono stage for the integrated!  AVI are a great little company with truly dedicated people interested in making value for money kit which punches above its weight. The integrated is ridiculously powerful for such a small box, as well as enjoying good timing and excellent resolution. A little masterpiece. If it's in your area, it's worth a listen. Regards, Frank. |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 201 Registered: Mar-06 | Hi Frank, I am very happy with my AVi amp, and happy with the company too. But I don't agree with all they have to say (for instance all that they say when it comes to CD players.... I have learned quite a bit, with my own hands and ears in this particular area). I have exchanged emails with Ashley, and have been happy with the level of support I have received. In no way shape or form am I unhappy with AVi. I did not want to make a song and dance about the amp that I actually own, since I would not be being impartial. I just tried to answer Dean's question about pricing. I am sure he can listen to the amp and make up his own mind. cheers Rav |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 203 Registered: Mar-06 | Hi Frank, just a foot note, I think I may be sounding a tad agressive (I have been awake all night, trying to complete some stuff for work), hence the reason for my grumpiness. Apologies in advance :-) But the more I learn about hifi equipment, by actually taking a look under the hood, and working on DIY mods etc etc. The more you realise that this industry is heavily tainted. It is not always in the best interests of equipment manufacturers to plainly speak the truth, else they may miss out on valuable rounds of useless upgrades. (In the past I naievely (sp?) thought that if I was dealing with a specialist hifi company as opposed to a consumer giant, that they would have the music lover's best interests at heart. But I now know that I was patently wrong, commercial factors and marketing still have massive negative influences in the specialist hifi field, just like any other area!) I realise I am being a little cynical here, but my cynicism is in fact justified and bourne out by practical experience. For example if manufacturers really cared about CD playback, they would look directly at the poxy volatge comparator based clock circuit found in the vast majority of CD players regardless of cost. Even though manufacturers these days pay lip service to the concept of minimising jitter, this as of yet, does not appear to be bourne out with actual decent clock circuits. Anyhows thats my rant, over and done with. I am extremely happy with my Sony XA-5ES CDP, which cost me $700AUD (pre-loved), and the mods which cost me $1200AUD. For approx 2k (AUD) I have a level of CD playback, that I am yet to hear matched (not by an Apollo atleast, or other more expensive machines (FMJ Arcams for instance)). I am waiting to demo the Saturn, just for my curiosity. cheers Rav |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1536 Registered: Sep-04 | Rav, I was just pulling your leg with my quip about Ashley. He's just so enthusiastic about stuff that when he gets going it's almost impossible to stop him! As to the opinions of manufacturers, well, they have their view which is very much borne of their experiences. I accept that there are less impressive aspects of design that they will sometimes make, and one wonders why they might make those decisions. For example, I concur that the AVi CD player isn't a patch on their amplifier and there are other CD players around for similar money which will be more convincing. Also, manufacturers are businesses. They need to sell kit in order to stay in business and feed their families. Cheers, Frank. |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 219 Registered: Mar-06 | Hi Frank, thanks for your comments, level-headed, as usual. I am really enjoying performing DIY mods, and I find it extremely educational. At the moment I am slowly but surely modding, my JVC XL-Z1050TN CD player. This player has a bit-stream DAC (JVC K2 interface PEM DAC), and this is surely the best bit-stream DAC I have ever heard. So far I have addressed the clocking in this machine, and slowly I am making capacitor mods to this player. Also the NE5532 op-amps have been replaced with AD825 type (SMD w/ brown dog adaptors). These player seems to be amazing and responds well to almost every change. Also each change just seems to highlight the excellence of the convertor stage in this player. At the moment the player is below the performance level of my heavily modded Sony, but I plan to take all stages of this player to their logical conclusion and think finally this JVC machine will best the Sony. All good fun, and makes great music. cheers Rav |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1549 Registered: Sep-04 | Rav, I wish I had the guts and the brains to do that - I simply don't have either of those, or the time to be honest. My Nakamichi DV-10S is getting long in the tooth now and it doesn't read all my discs which is getting me down. I believe this is really easy to fix (pot adjustment) but since I'm not familiar with DVD player innards, I've stayed my hand - for now. Regards, Frank. |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 225 Registered: Mar-06 | Hi Frank, in lieu of brains, I always order the manufacturer's service manual for any piece equipment I attempt to modify. This normally helps a heck of a lot!!!! Also due to lack of guts, I never modify any equipment which is performing active duty in my main system. (The A60 was replaced by the AVi, and the JVC CDP replaced by the Sony, hence both units became suitable targets for modification. But, I must wholly agree that performing this work is extremely expensive in terms of one's time. So I am really doing this DIY work to educate myself about audio. Once I have learnt what I want to, I will hang up my soldering iron (and WBT solder) and enjoy the music for a while. On your Nak, if its a good machine you should get it looked at... cheers Rav |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1550 Registered: Sep-04 | Heh heh...but it's sooo tempting to just 'have a go'. The Nak is a good machine, no question. And if I could just fix this minor issue I'd be happy with it doing DVD duties since this would allow me to buy a decent CD player. I've always wanted a truly good CD player so...tempted... Regards, Frank. |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 226 Registered: Mar-06 | Will B&W help you? Or indeed one of the tech's at the shop where you work part time? Since aren't Bowers performing support for Nakamichi tape decks? If there is a service manual for your unit, if the manual is a good one, normally all re-adjustment procedures should be detailed inside. On the CDP that sounds good to me, have anything special in mind? The French seem to be making some very interesting CD players: Audio Aero, and Metronome Technologies.... ;-) cheers Rav |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1556 Registered: Sep-04 | Rav, Thanks for the suggestions. Nope - B&W don't do Nakamichi and I am Mr. Naughty since I should have just sent it back to the Nak distributor to look at it, but I don't like being without my DVD player. On the CD player front, I've long hankered after a Naim CDX2... Regards, Frank. |
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Silver Member Username: RavbainsMelbourneAustralia Post Number: 231 Registered: Mar-06 | Hi Dean, did you ever get to find out the price of the Avi amp in you locale? Please excuse my previous grumpiness, I was going through work related hell at the time.... Speaking purely from my personal experience, I have been very happy with my AVi. The amp is very well built and finished (in the context of its price), it is very dynamic, detailed, powerful, as Frank says it 'times' well (I always notice that it brings out the rythmn of a track), and it is also pretty refined and detailed. I can think of no significant criticism, when I put the amp into the context of its price. I would be interested to hear your thoughts if you did indeed get a chance to listen to an Avi integrated. cheers Rav |
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